The Purveyor of Powerslides vs. the Prince of Precision

The slide, when it finally comes, is a long, predictable and quietly controlled thing.

And in the 911 it's handled with a smidge of countersteer and an equal measure of patience. Certainly Porsche has polished this car's dynamics well beyond what its design merits. But at the end, when the chips are down, stability control is off and you're up against the icy, unforgiving hand of physics, the 911 is still a 911. And it's going to behave like one.

Respecting physics is one of the necessary truths of driving fast cars fast. You'll learn that respect in this Porsche. Yet today's 911 lets its driver delicately dance with physics like few cars made. That the 911 remains composed — stoic, even — during a 150-foot slide at more than 90 mph isn't surprising. What is surprising is that we still love it. Because even when physics plan the way, it's the driver who directs the 911's path.

The fundamental question of this comparison, then, is can the 2014 Chevy Corvette measure up to the Porsche's greatness?

The Primary Target
We've already hailed the thorough competence of the 2014 Corvette Stingray and in the last two weeks it has razed two far more costly and powerful pieces of hardware — the Nissan GT-R and the SRT Viper — in our comparison tests. Chevy makes no secret that Porsche's 911 is the Corvette's primary target, in dynamics, refinement and comfort. So hard-fixed is that goal that a 911 Carrera S equipped with a PDK transmission was the only benchmark car purchased by the C7 team during development.

And that just happens to be the exact configuration of the car you see here. Though this example is thoroughly marinated in Porsche's options bin, it is the car Corvette engineers put in the GM crosshairs. Equipped with $47,000 in add-ons (including the $8,520 carbon-ceramic brakes and $4,050 Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control and Porsche Active Suspension Management), the 911 is, ahem, considerably costlier than the 'Vette. The $4,080 seven-speed PDK auto-manual transmission pushes the price to $144,350.

The Defining Differences
If there's one character trait that most profoundly distinguishes the Stingray from the 911 it's this: torque. And it is here that the big, deep lungs of American displacement score the first hit.

The 'Vette's 140 pound-feet advantage, which arrives 1,000 rpm earlier than the Porsche's torque peak, leaves the 911 driver seeing stars and stripes at every corner exit. The numbers tell the story nicely. Corvette: 465 lb-ft at 4,600 rpm; 911: 325 lb-ft at 5,600 rpm. So it goes without saying that if you're a purveyor of powerslides, the Stingray is your car.

What's more, the Corvette's 144 additional cubic inches continue the haymaking well into the rev range where it enjoys a 60 peak horsepower advantage. Its 6.2-liter V8 cranks out 460 ponies to the 3.8-liter 911 flat-6's 400.

But don't even think of writing off the 911. Its recipe for greatness might be more subtle, but it's not lost on anyone who gives it time. There's a coherence to driving the 911 that's only present in a car sharpened by decades of commitment to purpose. And that's what you get here: the promise that no matter how hard you drive it, someone has driven a 911 harder.

In fact, the 911 defined itself in this test as much by what it didn't do as by what it did. Among those feats were the ability to tolerate triple-digit heat without wavering, endure repeated launches without faltering and remain utterly composed throughout it all. The Corvette, partly because it was a preproduction car and partly because it cost half as much, simply lacked the same quiet confidence.

That's Not All
Despite its torque deficit, the 911 still managed to beat the 'Vette in acceleration testing. Its PDK transmission is merciless when it comes to doing important things, like shifting and launching — quickly. It helped produce a 0.3-second advantage in the quarter-mile (12.1 seconds at 114.9 mph vs. 12.4 seconds at 113.7 mph). Sixty miles per hour also arrived 0.3 second sooner in the Porsche, which hit the milestone in 4.0 seconds (3.8 with a 1-foot rollout as on a drag strip). The 'Vette needed 4.3 and 4.1 seconds, respectively.

The 911's launch control is unbeatable, and it's the reason Porsche prefers we test cars equipped with PDK transmissions. Even in the real world it's easy to access and use, so there are few downsides. Our test-driver beat the Stingray's launch control fairly easily but still couldn't match the 138-pound-lighter 911.

Full disclosure: The first C7 we tested in Michigan in June was quicker than this 911 in the quarter-mile, but we're not in Michigan anymore. Truth is, the realities of lower-octane fuel (91 vs. 93) and less grip played a role. But those factors were the same for both cars, which were tested on the same day at the same location.

Handling tests, however, favored the Stingray. Its 73.5-mph slalom pass is 2.8 mph better than the 911 could muster. It also eked out a victory over the Porsche on the skid pad, producing 1.05g to the 911's 1.04g. Finally, without the help of carbon-ceramic rotors, the Stingray stopped shorter from 60 mph (99 feet vs. 101 feet).

Track
But it's here, on the track, that the Stingray shows its real merit. Motivated by what is fundamentally a truck engine, it finds speed in places the 911 doesn't. Largely, it's the Stingray's ability to explode away from an apex that earns it the advantage. Performance Traction Management is deadly effective in making the laps both fast and easy. Turning it off, though it will more deeply engage the 'Vette's driver, ups stress without a proportional increase in driving reward.

If you want to hoon the 'Vette then, by all means, turn it off, but if you want to go quickly set it to Race Mode, warm the tires and stand on it. So potent are the Stingray's technologies here that they embarrass the Porsche in identical proportion to what happened at the drag strip. Think about the irony in that.

Steering feel and response, next to torque, are the Stingray's biggest allies. There's a confidence in the C7's steering beyond that of most every other sports car made today. Its front end sticks with intractable persistence. For evidence of this you need to look no farther than its front tires, which wear faster than its rears during hard driving.

The 911, for its part, remains an amazing car to drive hard. Its light but direct steering makes no concessions when driven at speed. Its brakes are so utterly capable that we began to think they're actually worth the cost of a nice sport bike. Its balance, communication and honesty at the limit are remarkable. And when it slides — and it will slide — there's both comfort and reward in bringing it back. It's not going to bite you, but there's no denying its fundamentals at the limit.

In the end, it's 1 second slower around the 1.6-mile Streets of Willows Springs road course.

Porsche 911 Carrera S: 1:25.6
Corvette Stingray Coupe: 1:24.6

Details Matter
But we don't spend every day at the track or the mountains. The 911, in daily use, comes to life in both observation and expression. It's here that Porsche's resources of refinement exceed Chevy's by an order of magnitude. It's here that the little things take over. Look at the 911. Really look at it. Appreciate its subtle purposefulness. Appreciate a shape honed on the mill of necessity. Now look at the Stingray's details, its ducts, vents and its facets.

They might be functional, but when measured by the yardstick of the equally effective 911, they're also gratuitous.

Now get inside the 911. Touch it. Operate its controls. Drive it down the street and notice what you don't hear. Talk to your passenger. Listen to him. Do the same in the 'Vette. Appreciate the 911 with both your senses and your heart. Measure the difference not in numbers but in nuance.

The Daily Grind
Chevy moved mountains in improving the Corvette's interior, but there's still a vast gap between these cars in quality. Everything you touch in the 911 is laser-micrometer precise and right-now responsive. The differences matter. In the 911 you move and it moves with you. In the Stingray you punch the touchscreen twice and wait. You step cleanly into the 911. You descend into, over and around the Corvette. And on a hot day, the 911 smells like leather. The Corvette smells like chemicals.

Ride comfort is a wash. Chevy's magnetorheological dampers are magic and they make the Stingray's ride every bit as refined as the 911's. But you'll compete for your passenger's attention with the Corvette's tire and road noise.

If the 911 utterly dominates the Corvette anywhere, it's here, in the ever-important words between the numbers.

What Our Hearts Say
So we're stuck. Stuck with a decision no enthusiast can fairly make. Picking the 'Vette is the obvious choice since it's supported by ample empirical data. At the end of the day, we can't deny that the home team nailed at least one of its primary targets. Making the Corvette as quick and rewarding as a 911 is a big task, and it's been fully accomplished. The Corvette, when driven hard, is as good as the 911, maybe better. There, we said it.

That it costs, in this case, less than half as much is pure gravy.

But then there's the undeniable reality that the 911 is the better car. Whether we're taking our kids to school or adding subtle countersteer to correct that big slide, we'd rather have the Porsche. It's the car that wins our hearts so it's the car that wins this test.

The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.

Porsche's Launch Control is refreshingly simple: Press the Sport Plus button, left foot on brake, console lever in Drive, then floor throttle. Revs rise to 6,200 rpm, foot off brake and then it gets out of the hole like a rocket. Minimal spin, just lots of forward thrust and ultra-quick upshifts from the PDK system. Engine sounds fantastic, especially with the exhaust button pressed. Manual shifting is via console lever (pull back for downshifts) or paddle shifters. Blips throttle on downshifts, will hold gears to rev limiter if not at full throttle.

Braking comments

The pedal was a bit softer and had longer travel than expected, but there's plenty of feel as the tires grip the pavement. Near-zero nosedive and no wiggle whatsoever. Short, consistent distances. First stop was longest at 104 feet, the sixth and final stop was shortest at 101 feet.

Handling comments

Slalom: The 911 was terrific as usual around the cones, but even with the suspension set to stiff, there was a bit more understeer than we remembered from previous tests. Perhaps it was due to the larger size ratio between the front and rear tires on this test car, with 305s at the rear. But a planted yet nimble car for sure, and with an appreciatively high stability control intervention point. Skid pad: Any time a car manages over 1.0g of grip, it's impressive. But what's most cool about the 911 around the skid pad is how you literally steer it with just the throttle, no need to alter the steering. It's that sensitive, in a good way.

Launch control did a good job of regulating wheelspin, yet it hardly made a difference from a data perspective. A near-bog no-wheelspin run essentially matched it and I beat it by a couple tenths with traction control shut off. I tried various amounts of spin and they all produced shockingly similar and highly consistent results. I did try the no-lift-shift feature and as cool as it is because it's typically forbidden, in reality it is no quicker than my usual shifts. The short gearing forces a 1-2 shift prior to 60 mph and even requires a shift to 4th for the quarter-mile. The Stingray is quick (quicker than C6 base coupe), sounds glorious, but it falls short of OMG-fast. I guess that's what a Z06 and ZR1 will be for.

Braking comments

Initially firm pedal feel ends with a little squish at the end of its short travel. The shortest stopping distance occurred on the seventh stop, proving these brakes have plenty of thermal capacity. Straight, steady, no drama.

Handling comments

Slalom: After I had dialed in the mode(s) that best suited my preferred feedback and the demands of slalom test (Track, Sport 2), then it became a matter of chipping away at the times with subtle techniques that exploited the car's electronic aids as well as the limits. It's easy to discover the limits and either avoid them or step right over them and file it in the manifest of things the Stingray does or doesn't want to do. I especially appreciated the crystal-clear and highly precise steering, the zippy turn-in, the progressive break-away of the tires and the sophisticated traction control on exit that doesn't merely chop the throttle, but stutters it to maintain momentum and direction. Although I couldn't hear it (like in the Nissan GT-R), I could sense the diff hard at work sorting out which side of the car needed/wanted power at every moment. Immensely capable and highly accessible performance without the C6's vaguely threatening demeanor. Wow. Skid pad: Absolutely nutty amount of grip for a road (not race) car. Steering remains informative and precise despite the tremendous loads. The Stingray will either under- or oversteer at will, which speaks to its impressive balance. With ESC fully on, the throttle fades out right before the car would need more driver involvement (e.g. steering and/or throttle modulation) to go any quicker. It's likely a "civilian" wouldn't even notice this happening at 1g. Impressive.